Computing devices, including personal and mobile devices, may be used to read books and other textual content, listen to audio books and other aural content, and watch movies and other video content. Users may load content onto the devices or access network-based content. Consumption of the content may occur on-demand (e.g., electronic books) or in real time (e.g., live streaming content). Users may access reviews, ratings, and commentary contributed by other people in order to determine what others think about the content and related topics. In many cases, a user may contribute a review of his or her own in an effort to add to the discussion. Such reviews and other commentary may be posted to network-accessible message boards, content sales pages, and other network resources so that the commentary is available for others to see and potentially respond to.
Online groups, such as book clubs, may be created and joined to allow groups of users to consume a content item and communicate regarding the item via their own computing devices. In a typical implementation, such as a book club, users are encouraged to follow a predetermined reading schedule. Message boards, email groups, and other means of group communication may be created and accessed by group members. Each user may be responsible for following the schedule. In some cases, other users have no way of knowing for certain whether a particular group member has indeed followed the schedule. In addition, group members may have to manually moderate group discussions and other communications.